Many consumers prefer the appearance of a borderless print that has one or more images that extend to one or more edges of the print as compared to a print having a border region around the printed image. However, it can be difficult to precisely align a leading edge of a print image with a leading edge of a receiver during printing. In particular, variations in machine tolerances, machine wear, receiver lengths and environmental conditions, among other things, can make it difficult for automatic printing and receiver movement systems in a printer to consistently achieve the precise alignment required to make a print having a printed image that extends to an edge of the receiver.
It will be appreciated that even minor errors in alignment can significantly impact the appearance of the print. For example, minor errors in alignment can cause a leading edge of a receiver to move through a printing position before printing at the leading edge begins. When this happens, there will be an imprinted portion of the receiver at the leading edge of the receiver yielding a print having a border. Similarly, where an error in alignment causes image printing to end before a trailing edge of a print has reached a printing position, there can be an unprinted portion of the receiver at the trailing edge of the receiver. When this happens, there will be an unprinted portion of the receiver at the trailing edge of the receiver yielding a print having a border.
Minor errors in alignment can significantly impact the appearance of a print in other ways. For example, in a printer that uses toner to form toner images on a receiver such errors can cause a toner image to begin transfer before a receiver is positioned to receive transferred toner or to finish transferring after the receiver is no longer positioned to receive transferred toner. Toner that is not transferred onto a receiver will be transferred onto equipment of the printer and can interfere with subsequent printer operations. For example, where such toner is transferred onto a component of the printer that contacts receivers, there is a risk that the transferred toner will be deposited on a subsequent receiver to create unintended print artifacts. Additionally, there is a risk that such toner can be disbursed within the printer and can accumulate in places that interfere with the proper operation of the printer.
In some printers, such as the NexPress 2100 sold by Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., USA and subsequent printers from this family of products toner images are on a receiver that is oversized with respect to a desired print size. During a finishing operation, the print is cut to the desired print size with the cutting being done within or along the printed area so that the finished print has an image that extends to at least one of the newly cut edges of the finished print.
This print-and-cut process wastes receiver material and imposes several burdens on the printing process. For example, the print-and-cut process can introduce a risk of a cutting error as the cutting used in such a process must be precisely aligned with the edge of the image so as to avoid leaving a portion of the border on the cut receiver and so as to avoid cutting potentially desirable portions of the image content from the receiver. Further, this print-and-cut process can significantly reduce printing efficiency when the edge to which the toner image is to extend is a leading or trailing edge of the receiver. This is because it is necessary to suspend movement of the receiver along a printing path to allow such leading or trailing edges of a receiver to be cut. Additionally, this print-and-cut process creates a print having one or more cut edges that may have a different appearance than other edges of the print.
The print-and-cut process further creates problems where the desired print has an edge that is not straight, such as a scalloped, cured or saw toothed edge as such edges must be cut with an adaptive cutting tool such as the Circuit tool or must be cut using a patterned dye. It is both complex and expensive to provide tools for cutting a bordered print using such tools and to do so in a manner that is aligned with a printed image. However using precut media creates an increased risk of free toner in a printer 20.
One alternative method for providing a print with an image that extends to an edge of a receiver is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-020075 which describes an image forming apparatus in which an image is formed on a recording material by holding and conveying a recording material in a nip part between an intermediate transfer belt and a secondary transfer belt. The secondary transfer belt is provided with a butting member having a butting part on which a cross-sectional part on a downstream side in a recording material conveying direction out of the recording material carried on the secondary transfer belt. A carrying position of the recording material is determined by allowing the cross-sectional part to butt on the butting part. The butting part protects the cross-sectional part of the receiver member so that the toner is not stuck to the cross-sectional part. However, the presence of the butting part on such a belt limits the range of start positions for printing which can reduce printer efficiency and requires a more complex printer design that can tolerate the passage of the butting part through various nips including any transfer nip and/or fusing nip and that can clean the butting part.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art are printers, printing modules and method for operating the same that enable the production of prints having images that extend to at least one cross edge without requiring cutting of the receiver and without substantially increasing the complexity of the printer, reducing efficiency of the printer or creating limitations on how the printer can be used.